Donation gift can double good will

DALLAS — In the holiday shopping marathon, socks and fruitcake usually represent the gasping limp to the finish line.

Penny Cook found her solution. One year, instead of digging up some trinket for her son's friends, she contacted Heifer International. Through the organization, she donated enough money in their name to provide a flock of baby chicks to a family in a developing country.

She's never looked back. Now Cook includes charitable giving in her Christmas shopping every year: She's bought livestock, school supplies, school uniforms and more for families and children in developing countries, all in the name of those on her list.

"I know that my friends' pantries are full. They don't need another tin of pralines or peanuts or a little token gift," said Cook, a Texan.

Donating something to a poor family not only makes a difference in that family's life, she said, it also drains some of the rampant commercialism from Christmas.

"It's just more in the spirit of the season," Cook said.

More people are joining Cook's gift-giving philosophy. There's a bevy of charitable-giving options, and many report increased sales in the past few years.

About 12 years ago, Heifer International took in about $1 million in donations, said spokeswoman Christine Volkmer. These days, it's up to $8 million.

Heifer International distributes a catalog that lets shoppers pick what kind of livestock they'd like to donate to a family of the organization's choosing.

For example, $500 will purchase a cow for an impoverished family. That family can drink the cow's milk, sell extra milk and use the manure as fertilizer. And if the cow gives birth, its calf can be given to a neighbor in need, allowing the entire area to benefit from the original donation. (Heifer also supplies goats, honeybees, water buffalo and more.)

Volkmer said that practical approach and its long-term effect hold a lot of appeal for shoppers.

She also said more Americans are changing their approach to holiday wish lists.

"A lot of people are saying, 'You know what? I don't want any more stuff,"' she said.

Heifer International is just one example; charitable gifts can be tailored to many interests.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Good Gifts catalog allows people to pick from a number of relief or missionary efforts — such as providing Bibles for children, helping AIDS orphans, funding water irrigation systems and more.